Posted by Big Donkey | Filed under The Week at FTP
Let’s start the week with the really important news; even Big Donkeys get things right once in awhile.
If you’re one of the three people who read my post from last week, you’ll remember that I predicted a WPT victory for Erik Seidel at the Foxwoods Poker Classic. Well, lo and behold, I was right.
Sure, my prediction didn’t earn me anything like the nearly $980K that Seidel took home for the victory, but a couple of fivers from the Monkey, the Captain, and the Inuit will pay for a few brews at the end of the day.
In addition to providing Seidel with his first career WPT Championship, his victory puts him at the top of the CardPlayer Player of the Year standings, three spots ahead of fellow Team Full Tilter Phil Ivey and four spots ahead of defending champion, David Pham.
Seidel chose not to follow up his victory with a trip to Monte Carlo for the EPT Grand Finale, but a few other pros made the journey to the Cote d’Azur. When Day 3 kicked off on Monday, Rino Mathis, Dario Alioto, and Thomas Wahlroos all had very playable chip stacks. Will any of them go on to win? I’d like to say so, but with this much play left, not even a Donkey of my caliber will go out on a limb and predict victory yet.
The poker forums have been buzzing all weekend over the announcement that ePassporte is no longer accepting online poker-related transactions. That’s right – they’ve closed their borders and not even a valid Visa (or MasterCard) will let you deposit to sites like FTP using ePassporte.
While ePassporte has yet to issue an official statement to users, a letter posted online states the company has made its decision in light of “a widespread investigation of Internet gambling, including poker, by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.” ePassporte’s letter goes on to say that the company does not believe it has violated any laws, but “we do not wish to be associated with anything that might be considered illegal by the United States government.”
In happier news, Congressmen Barney Frank and Ron Paul have recently introduced new legislation designed to prevent implementation of the controversial UIGEA regulations. Specifically, H.R. 5767 will “forbid the Secretary of the Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from proposing, prescribing, or implementing any regulation that requires the financial services industry to identify and block Internet gambling transactions.”
While calling this a move to repeal the UIGEA may be a little strong, Frank and Paul certainly don’t pull any punches in outlining the flaws they see in the legislation. “These regulations are impossible to implement without placing a significant burden on the payments system and financial institutions” writes Frank. Adds Paul, “The ban on Internet gambling infringes on two freedoms that are important to many Americans: the ability to do with their money as they see fit, and the freedom from government interference with the Internet.”
The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Financial Services for further action, and we’ll keep track of its progress through the legislature.
Until then, keep playing – and keep reading.
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